In The Blood

Lana has a secret. And it’s not pretty. But with her dad on death row, her mother murdered, and her best friend missing, she thinks she’s safe. But is she? As the investigation into her missing friend drags on, Lana finds that she’s not the only one with secrets to hide… And someone knows hers.

This was a GoodReads First Read book, and I received a copy to review. I read this a few months ago, and didn’t get around to writing a review. I had forgotten, what with the ever-growing stack of To-Read and To-Review, until I recommended this to someone else on GoodReads (hi, karen!), and it all came back. I mean, It. All. Came. Back.

I loved this book. The reveals were perfectly timed. And (mini spoiler) there’s more than one. Shit, there’s more than one per character! Everyone’s got something to hide! But, maybe… just maybe… that’s why this book rang true. Everyone has secrets to hide.

But I digress.

Lana starts ‘babysitting’ a troubled pre-teen that just moved to town with his mother. I would say ‘boy’, but he doesn’t act like a boy, other than his tantrums. In fact, it becomes plain to Lana very quickly that Luke is a manipulator. But, then, so is she.

When Luke suggests a new kind of game, Lana plays along, telling herself that she’s in control.

The clues are placed strategically throughout, and a smart cookie can pick up on the reveals just before they happen, but that doesn’t make them any less shocking. Like Holmes, you take the little things, put them together in their logical order, and sit back in stunned silence, eyes skimming the page as you rush to find out whether you are wrong (yeah, right) or right (man, you wish you were wrong).

There was just one thing I wasn’t too sure about here, and that was: Why? Why, Langdon? (That part seemed vague to me.)

I also want to touch on the diary entries.

Wow! Post-partum depression never seemed so scary! I mean, I’ve seen it, but it’s so different reading about it in this way. At first, you think you know who wrote this, then you change your mind, then more is revealed and you don’t know what to think! But going back, you realize, you knew all along. You did. I did.

Lisa Unger has written a masterpiece, perfectly woven, and leaving you questioning just who won, after all. Luke is good, but after everything, did he succeed in fooling Lana after all?

I’ll let you decide.

A must read for fans of Psychological thrillers, family dramas, unsolved mysteries, and horror.